Lotus
by ReginaFilangie
Summary: As an incoming fifth year, Hermione can't wait to return to school and be reunited with her friends, Harry and Ron. Will being a Prefect change things?(H/H & H/D)
1. Prologue

**Hi guys, this is my first fanfic, so I'm not sure what to expect exactly. Of course, these aren't my characters, they're owned by JK Rowling. This is just me making up my own story. Here goes...**

* * *

He walks quietly down the stairs feeling the cold stone under his feet. It's been awhile since he's had a good sleep. He walks out the door and strides towards the fountain. Tomorrow is the first day of school and he couldn't be more excited. Not about his classes, no, but he couldn't wait to get away from home. The pressure was getting to him.

He flips the tiny badge into the air and catches it while he stares at the velvet black sky. He had made prefect. Most likely, he was recommended because it definitely not because of his grades. He smirks at the thought of being a prefect. He'll get to boss the students around.

 _I wonder who the other prefects are? Surely that stupid potter and that mudblood._

He grimaces and the badge hits the fountain, breaking his train of thoughts. He bends down and runs his hands across the plush grass, searching for the badge but wasn't able to find it.

 _Oh well, I'll have the house elves find it._

He walks back in and summons all the house elves to go look for his badge in the garden around the fountain.

"Yes master"

He climbs back into bed and looks out the wall to floor window. The sun should be coming up in a few hours. He closes his eyes and hopes to get a little sleep in. 

* * *

She grabs her headphones and hits play on her CD player. They're fighting again. They think she doesn't know but she does. She turns the volume up loud to drown them out and tries to focus reading through her textbook again.

Halfway through reading her textbook, she yanks off her headphones and groans. She couldn't concentrate between the CD player blaring in her ears and with the arguing downstairs. She opens her trunks and goes through her stuff again. She had already packed everything a few days ago. She was more than excited to go back to school, and more importantly, to get away from the fighting. Her clothes were all crisply ironed and folded and she triple checks her books and supplies.

"Crookshanks!" She cries as her cat jumps from her bed onto her clothes. Now she would have to iron her clothes again.

"You're excited to go back to school too aren't you?" She strokes her cat who jumps out from her under hand and sits in front of the door. She opens the door to let her cat out.

Did she hear right? Surely she didn't. She carefully opens her bedroom door wider, afraid to hear what she thought she heard and holds her breath. She holds back a gasp and closes her door. She did hear them right. She tiptoes back to her bed and curls up under her covers. Tomorrow couldn't come faster for her.


	2. Return to Hogwarts

Hermione wakes up with a jolt. Damn it she's going to be late for the Hogwarts Express. Scrambling out of bed, she rushes to the bathroom to change. She had a rough night and if wasn't for her dream or rather, nightmare, of failing a class, she would've missed the train for sure. With one hand on her toothbrush brushing her teeth furiously, she grabs Crookshanks with the other and throws him into his cage.

 _Come on!_

With her legs burning, she charges into the Platform and slides into the train with a second to spare as the doors close right behind her.

 _Phew_

"Hermione!" She whips around to see her friend's smiling face sticking out of one of the compartments.

"Harry!" She smiles at him and hurries over to hug him. Harry had wondered where Hermione had been. It was very unlike her to be late.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asks looking over Harry's shoulder.

"He's in the prefects compartment"

Upon hearing this Hermione gasps. Oh no. She hurries back out the compartment that her friend's in and rushes towards the front of the train. How could she have forgotten?

"Hermione! I was wondering where you were" Her other friend had stepped out of the prefect compartment in time to see her rushing towards him with her things clattering behind her.

"Hello Ron" Hermione pants and hands him her cat. She looks into the compartment to see a Ravenclaw prefect and two Hufflepuff prefects already sitting next to Ron. She had wanted to sit with him. No matter, she'll just sit across from him. Ron had blocked her view of the other side, so when he sat down, Hermione groans.

"Mudblood"

How is it just her luck that the only seat left is next to him? She ignores the comment and sits down next to him and across from Ron. Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson had somehow both made prefects. This is going to be a long year. At least she had Ron.

* * *

After the first years were sorted into their Houses and the feast, she and Ron had showed the first years in their House the way to the dorms and told them the password. She remembered how just a few years ago, she was in their place. After settling in, she went to look for her friends and dragged them with her to the library.

"Thank god we're leaving" Ron jokes.

"It was only a few minutes!" Hermione cries. There were some books that she wanted to check out before anyone else got their hands on it.

Harry was telling them about the dementors he had encountered with his cousin when they ran into Malfoy and his two minions.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" Draco smirks

"Get lost Malfoy"

"Watch it Potter before I deduct 10 points" Draco says cooly. Now it was Hermione's turn to smirk at him.

"You have no power to do so. Have you forgotten that prefects are only allowed to deduct points from their own house?" With that, she walks off brushing past him.

"I hope someone sends a dementor after you" Draco mutters under his breath but she heard him.

Hermione spins around and punches him dead in the nose.

"Are you alright Malfoy?" Crabbe and Goyle rush over as Draco held his nose that was now bleeding.

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione gulps. Oh man, first day back and she was already in trouble.

"I suggest you all to return to your dorms, Miss Granger, follow me."

* * *

She couldn't believe her luck. She let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Hermione, what happened?"

"Ron, what are you doing here?" She was surprised to see her friend out of bed after hours.

"Patrolling"

She nods. She forgot Ron made prefect.

 _Why wasn't Harry prefect?_

"Hermione?"

"Right. Actually, nothing really happened. Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me about something about my classes." McGonagall had asked Hermione if she needed the time turner again for this year, not that she was about to tell Ron that.

"What about what happened with Malfoy?"

"She just told me to be careful next time, as she won't let me off so easily."


	3. Pranks

"I can't believe we have Potions" Ron groans

"At least it's only once a week"

The three walk down the stairs leading to the dungeons. As they walk by Draco, he decides to have a little fun.

"Accio glasses"

"What" Harry stops abruptly causing his two friends to look at him.

"Looking for these ?" Draco asks smugly

"Give it back Malfoy!" Hermione demands as the three of them point their wands at Draco

"Sticking up for your little boyfriend again I see. What will I get in return?"

"I won't hex you" Hermione drops her hand.

" 15 points each from Gryffindor for casting spells on their fellow classmate" The boys jump at the sound of Snape's voice

"Casting?! But we didn't even cast a spell!"

"5 more points from Gryffindor you can thank Mr. Weasley. That's only because I came out in time." Snape walks back into the potions classroom and the students file in after him.

"Catch" Draco had snapped Harry's glasses in half right before he threw it at him.

"That's for punching me" Draco pushes past her.

"I'm sorry Harry" Hermione walks over to her friend holding his broken glasses.

"Occulus reparo"

"Thanks Mione" Harry grins and places his glasses back on his face. She nods and charges into the room and up to Draco.

"Whatever it is, you take it up with me, leave my friends out of it" She hisses and walks towards her seat.

 _Let the games begin then._ He smirks.

* * *

For weeks Draco would pull little pranks on Hermione who tried to avoid him. Just because he didn't take his role as a prefect seriously, didn't mean she didn't. She wasn't going to be caught casting jinxes and hexes at her fellow classmate, what kind of example is that? So far, he had cast a spell to rearrange the words in her book whenever he saw Hermione in the library and vanished her potions from Potion's class

"Hermione, you can't just keep letting him have his ways without retaliating!" Ron cries as he watches her drying her homework that Draco had previously hit with Aguamenti

"I did!" She had previously tripped him in class causing him to knock over all the potions on a table he was standing next to and threw a spider down his back during dinner which caused him to yell out too loudly and had points taken away.

"I still think you're letting him off too easy" Ron mutters but Hermione ignores him

"Hermione look what I got" Ron says to her one morning during breakfast.

"I got these from Fred and George. You can use it on that Malfoy"

"What is it?" Harry looks over in Ron's hand.

"Puking Pastille. It makes the person vomit" Ron smiles mischievously

"And that one?"

"Nosebleed Nougat. Heavy nosebleed" The two boys start laughing and start planning when to trick Malfoy into eating the sweets. What they didn't realize was that Hermione didn't hear a thing.

She was reading a letter she received from home when Ron had started talking about the sweets he got from the twins.

"Hermione?" They call after their friend who suddenly left the table and walked away.

"We meet again" Draco says approaching her. He had spotted her standing alone facing the wall in one of the hallways.

"Where are your friends?"

"So what is it going to be today?" He asks when he didn't get any response from her. Weird, usually she's running in the other direction dodging or hiding from him.

"Granger!" He pokes her in the shoulder with his wand when she didn't answer again. What in the world is wrong with her.?

"I'm going to take advantage and hex you if you don't answer" He threatens

Still nothing. Drago inches forward and cranes his neck to see her. Did someone freeze her? Is she paralyzed? Wait, was she crying? Is that sniffling? He didn't know why he suddenly care or even when he started to care.

 _I don't. It just won't be fun bothering her if there's no reaction._

She suddenly turns to throw her arms around him.

"What the bloody hell?" It was his turn to freeze. He didn't know what to do so he stands there letting her cry on him.

"So I won't hex you then! Really mudblood there's nothing to cry about" He huffs

Upon hearing this she chuckles slightly and wipes her tears.

"Mucus ad Nauseam" His eyes widen as she walks away back towards the Great Hall.

"Ugh leave it to a dirty mudblood to play dirty tricks!" He charges after her.

"Locomotor Mortis" She couldn't help herself. Hopefully this will stop him from bothering her.

"Oh you have to be kidding! Two curses?!" Draco cries and hops after her as she disappears back into the Great Hall.

* * *

"Can anyone tell me wha' Bowtruckle is?" They were all standing outside for their Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

"Hermione" Hagrid calls on the first, more like the only hand that shot up.

 _Insufferable know it all_

Hermione had been standing behind him and was making her way to the front of the class. Of course she was. Why was she standing so closely behind him though ? Draco's body tenses up as he felt her hand slightly slip into his pocket. Not another spider was it ? It's been days since he pulled a prank on her. Not since she had bound his legs together and gave him a cold with an extremely runny nose.

"Bowtruckle serves-" Draco slips his hand gingerly into his pocket. Scared to feel a bug of some sort he sighs in relief when he realizes it was only a piece of parchment. Why was she passing notes to him?

Draco ducks behind a student to read what she wrote.

 _Thanks_

He flips over the parchment to see if there was anything on the other side. There wasn't. Well then. He folds the parchment neatly and tucks it in his chest pocket.

"-they are immensely difficult to spot"

"Excellen'! 10 points fer Gryffindor" Hermione beams.

"Know it all" Draco mouths to her when she turns to glare at him for snorting. She in return sticks out tongue out at him. For some reason, this causes the corners of his lips to curl up into a small smile.

"What's funny?" Pansy whispers into his ear making him jump.

"Nothing" He coughs into his fist covering up his smile.

* * *

 **So I've decided to make this a Dramione. There might be a chapter or two of Hermione with someone else but it'll mostly be Hermione/Draco. Sorry if this disappoints anyone and for wasting your time reading. If you don't like the pairing then thanks for reading up to here.**


	4. Out of Bounds

She did it. She had finally convinced Harry to teach students Defense Against the Dark Arts and was even the one who chose Hog's Head to hold their first meeting. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back for that one. She bends her head down and sucks up the foam from her Butterbeer. Hermione leans back in her seat and closes her eyes. She had been making hats for the house-elves on top of her school work and helping Ron and Harry catch on their homework. Needless to say, she was exhausted. With her eyes still closed, she takes a sip of her drink, savoring it in her mouth.

"Ahem" Her eyes flutter open to see who interrupted her peace to find Draco standing across from her.

"Mind if I sit?" He says avoiding eye contact.

"There's no other place to sit" He mutters and sits down at the empty seat in front of her. She looks around the inn to see that it was indeed packed like it always was. The sit in awkward silence while Hermione racks her brain for something to say.

"Hard to believe that you have nothing to say Granger" He chuckle upon seeing her chew on her lip trying to think of a subject to talk about.

"The note-I-Thanks" She stammers and he nods. Their hands were both on the table when his pinky ever so slightly brush against her. She withdrew her hand quickly as if she had been burned and tucks her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah I read it. What happened?" She fidgets in her seat while he looks intensely at her.

"Um-" She brings her mug to her lips and takes a long sip to avoid the question. She didn't want to tell him about her personal problems.

"Malfoy!" Draco turns to see who had called out to him to see Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy pushing their way through the crowd towards him.

"Shit" He whispers under his breath. He didn't want them to see him sitting here with mudblood Granger but when he turn around to face her, she was already gone.

"Who was that?" Pansy asks sitting down in the seat Hermione had previously been sitting in.

"Nobody" Draco shakes his head while his eyes scan the room for her. How did she slip away so fast?

 _Where did she bloody go?_

"Hello?" A waving hand in front of his face brought his attention back to Pansy

"Huh?"

"I asked who you're looking for?" Pansy frowns

"Nobody" He shakes his head again bringing his hand to touch where his hand had touched hers and smiles. 

* * *

She had been deep in her thoughts patrolling the astronomy corridor when she heard it. Her brows furrow as she closes her eyes to focus on what the sound was. Glass she decides. Glass shattering to be exact.

 _Where is it coming from?_

She quickly follows the sound in the dark to see who was up and past curfew.

"Hello?" She calls out softly as she holds out her lamp in front of her. She squints her eyes to see who was standing by the small archway and walks slowly towards the figure.

"Malfoy?" She gasps. He glances over his shoulder but says nothing.

"What are you doing here? This tower is out of bounds for students" She says quickly

"I can ask you the same thing" He says with his back towards her. She bites her lip. She wasn't about to tell him that she was in the reading room. He'll just make a mean comment.

"Reading room?" He guesses

 _Damn how did he know? I guess it's very obvious._

"Patrolling" She answers.

"What are you doing?" She asks again and he ignores her and starts up again.

"What are you doing! You'll get us in trouble!" She hurries over to him and grabs on his arm to stop him. He looks at her hand on his arm and she quickly let's go.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He just shakes his head. She looks down as if think for a minute and starts walking away to leave him be.

"Don't" He croaks freezing her right on the spot. She turns to him, nods and walks to sit on the floor leaning against the wall. He follows, sitting on the floor across from her. He leans his head back with his eyes closed and she finds herself studying his face.

"I think we should get going" She jumps at the sound of his voice. They had been sitting on the floor silently in the dark for who knows how long.

"Okay" She had been enjoying sitting there with him just enjoying each other's presence.

He walks over to her and reaches his hand out. She hesitates for a second before holding it with her own, allowing him to pull her up. They walk silently together until they had to part ways to return to their own dorms. 

* * *

"Where've you been?" Pansy asks sleepily as plots down on one of the chairs in their common room.

"I went for a walk" He answers in a curt manner, annoyed that she was up. She rubs her eyes, smiles coyly and walks behind his chair.

"Well-" She leans over and tries to wrap her arms around him but he stops her.

"I'm going to bed" He stands up so fast, he almost knocks her over but he doesn't care.

Laying down in his bed, he thought back to earlier that night, moments before he came back into the common room. He thought back his time with her, the last moment before they parted ways. Right before he left, he had reached over and embraced her. She stood for a while letting him hold on to her before she patted him on his back. Holding her, it felt like all of his troubles, all of his stress and pain just melted away. Just being in her presence was such a calming effect to him. He reaches under his pillow to touch a piece of parchment paper he had hid.

 _What in the bloody hell is wrong with me? Why am I thinking about that mudblood. There MUST be something wrong. I must be sick_

He nods at the thought and throws the parchment paper on the floor.

 _What if someone sees it in the morning?_

He scurries to grab the piece of parchment off the floor and stuffs it back under his pillow. Content, he falls asleep to the sound of the lake water lapping against the windows and the warmth of her body that he still felt on his skin. 

* * *

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	5. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asks Ron who was stuffing his face with food as usual.

"Library?" Ron suggests with his mouth full. Just then, Hermione sits down next to them sighing.

"Did you see her come in? She's doing it again"

"What's the matter?" Harry asks ignoring Ron. She sets down a handful of candy looking pills in front of them.

"What's that?" Ron reaches over for them and Hermione smacks them out of his hands before he eats them.

"Took them from Fred and George. They were trying to test them out on younger kids again" She sighs shaking her head.

"What are these for?"

Constipation" Hermione rolls her eyes as the boys snicker

"They call it U-No-Poo a play on You-Know-Who" The boys start howling with laughter and she couldn't help but smile a little herself.

"Oh come on Ron" Harry says looking up at the clock and getting up. They were trying to get in a few more practices for Ron before their first game against Slytherin.

"Don't be nervous, you'll be great. You made the team after all" Hermione pulls him in for a hug and it felt like her lips brushed against his face as she spoke in his ear. Was that a kiss? Regardless if it really was, it was to Ron. It gave him a little boost of confidence which he so desperately needed. 

* * *

"Oh no. Oh no" Hermione quickly flips her books shut and stuffs all of her homework into her bag. How could forget? She glances at the clock on the wall again and winces. She had spent almost the entire day in the library as usual.

"Oh goodness" She rushes out of the library and hurries outside for the game. Gryffindor vs Slytherin and if she didn't hustle, she will miss the entire game!

"Sorry! Sorry! Excuse me! Look out!" She calls out as she dashes down the stairs and out to the Quidditch pitch.

"Oh!" She had made it outside just in time to see Draco take a nasty fall, but her eyes quickly dart up to look for Harry without giving him a second glance. The crowd was going wild cheering for Harry as his outstretched hand reaches for the snitch and within seconds, his fingers were wrapped around the little golden ball and he wins the game.

"Oh bugger" She says to herself. As fast as she was rushing, she still missed the game. Well, at least she caught the last few seconds. She quickly runs up to Harry and throws her arms around his neck for a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Um T-thanks" He stammers touching his cheek where she kissed him and they both blush.

"Ron!" She breaks her embrace with Harry when she sees her other friend walking towards them.

"Stop sulking Ron we won!" She squeals giving him a hug as well but she knew why he was upset. Those nasty Slytherins haven't stopped taunting him.

As they head back to the school, Hermione couldn't help but to wonder about Draco and his well being.

"Hey I gotta run back I forgot-I-yeah" She runs off ahead of Ron and Harry back to the school as they boys look at each other and shrug. Just in time, Crabbe, Goyle, and a couple of other Slytherins came up to them.

 _Saved by those sneaky snakes. I wonder why Crabbe and Goyle aren't inside seeing Malfoy?_

She slows her pace as she nears the hospital wing, she didn't want to seem like she was rushing to see him. She peeks in and looks around, nobody was around. She slowly creeps in looking around for him. She didn't even know what she was going to say when she saw him.

"Granger" He says in a low voice and she spins around to see him lying behind her.

"Miss me already?" He looks at her smirking.

"No! I uh how are you?" She walks towards him. She _really_ didn't know why she came and cursed herself as she sat down next to him.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'll live"

"Don't joke" She swats his arm.

"Ah!" He quickly grabs his arm in pain but then recovers with a smile.

"Did you catch the end of the game?" She nods and smiles proudly.

"Oh great" He groans. He pulls his covers over his head while Hermione chuckles at his actions.

"We're not that bad"

"Maybe you aren't, but that Potter and those weasels!" He says still under the covers.

"Those are my friends!" She yanks off his covers and he sits up.

"Weasley's still our king" He sniffs and starts humming the little song he made up.

"Stop" She stares him hard in the eyes.

"How do you stand them really? Being in Weasley's stinky dirty house. Not even a house, more like a mole hole if you ask me. That Potter too, might as well have been a mudblood, living with stupid muggles and everyone in the wizard world acts like he's some stupid saint. Disgusting really-"Hermione gets up to leave, she didn't want to sit here listening to him bash her friends.

Draco couldn't help himself. He pulls her down, grips her head roughly in his hands, and his lips comes crashing down hard and rough onto hers. Angry, she bites him hard on the lip. Hard enough to draw blood. He roughly shoves her off him and she in return, gives him a hard slap in the face. He looks at her and realized what a mistake he made. Her eyes were red and brimming with tears. Not another word was said between them. She gets up briskly and walks out the door.

He sinks back down in his bed. He knew his words hurt and his actions were wrong but he couldn't help himself. The look on Potter's face after she kissed him just bothered him. Oh how he wish he could wipe that stupid look off his face! Angry with himself and with what happened, he growls and pulls the covers over his head again.

 _Stop thinking about her! She's just a filthy mudblood! Bloody hell I've gone soft._

Just then, Goyle and Crabbe stumble in excitement.

"Oh will you two idiots calm down what's with all the clamoring?"

"Potter and the Weasel twins! Their brooms have been confiscated and they've been banned for life from playing Quidditch!" They shout with glee.

 _Oh no, I've gone too far. She's going to hate me. More than she already does for what I did. No, it's not my fault, I didn't do anything! I've been in here this whole time she can't blame me. Oh, but she knows Crabbe and Goyle take my orders. Arghh! Who cares about her! Serves them right! Forget her!_

"Malfoy?"

"Get out!" he bellows and they scamper out the room.


	6. Words Unspoken

"Can I have a word with you, Miss Granger?" Hermione nods for Harry and Ron to go on without her. She wonders what this could be about while Professor McGonagall motions for her to sit. She purses her lips as if to think about how to start.

"It's come to my attention that one of your classmates isn't doing well in their studies" She begins. Harry? Ron?

"I was wondering if you would have the time to help tutor them" Hermione nods carefully as she watches her professor's expressions. So, not a Gryffindor. Oh no, Slytherin? Could it be?

"Wonderful. You will tutor Mr. Malfoy twice a week until his grades start improving" Hermione's eyes widen in horror.

"But-" Hermione begins. There's no way she wants to see him, no way. She had been avoiding him since the incident in the hospital wing.

"That'll be all" Professor McGonagall waves her off. Hermione's heart sinks. Can she get out of this? She thinks back to how he acted with her.

 _I can not believe I have to do this._

"I can't believe you have to do this!" Ron groans. The three of them were sitting in the common room when Hermione told the boys why McGonagall had to speak to her.

"He's the reason why Harry can't play! Why should you help him?" Ron continues on while Harry sat there quietly.

"Can you get out of it?"

"How Ronald?"

"I don't know" Hermione shakes her head. There's no way out of it. She couldn't even protest. She had agreed. Well, at least she'll get some house points out of it.

* * *

Hermione chews on her bottom lip while she straightens out her books. She didn't know which classes he was failing in, so she brought all of her books. She folds her hands on the library table and checks the clock. He should be coming in any second now. Hearing footsteps behind her, she clears her throat and straightens her back. But it wasn't him. Did she really expect him to be on time? He probably wants to do this as much as she does. Sighing, she picks up a book to start reading.

"Over already?" Hermione jumps in her seat. She had been so absorbed in her book that she didn't notice Harry in front of her. She shakes her head and checks the clock. An hour and a half late.

"He hasn't shown up yet"

"I don't think he'll be coming" Harry says frowning.

"I'll just wait a little bit longer" Hermione shrugs. She was almost done reading her book anyways. Harry nods and lingers for a bit before leaving her.

Closing her book, her stomach starts to growl. She checks back at the clock. She had missed dinner and she had been waiting for two and a half hours now. Angrily, she packs up her school books. She didn't want to do this either, but here she was. The decent thing for him to do was at least come up to her and tell her or something. Instead, she was left hanging, waiting for him, and starving.

 _He better show up tomorrow._

But he didn't. For the rest of the week, Hermione had set up all of her books to put them away two hours later with nobody joining her.

"Hermione, he's not coming." Harry says to her as she sets out her books.

"He didn't come this whole week"

"Yeah, come on let's go have some Butterbeer" Ron offers. Smiling, she shakes her head and rejects them.

"We'll bring you back some food" Harry says as he and Ron walks out. They knew there was nothing they can say to her.

It did bother her at first, and it still bothers her that it's been a whole week and he hasn't shown up once. Shaking her head, she pulls out another book and starts reading. At least she gets to read peacefully.

* * *

"Malfoy-" Draco raises his hand to silence them. He had been standing hidden between the bookshelves.

"You're still here?" Pansy whines and Draco shushes her.

"I don't understand why you're doing this. You've done this for the whole week" She stomps away with her arms crossed. Crabbe and Goyle follow after her, knowing that he wanted to be left alone. He had said that he was doing it to torture her, but they didn't understand why he had to stand there watching her. Couldn't he just not show up?

He hides in the shadows and watches as a strand of her hair falls in front of her face but she hadn't bothered to brush it aside. Too into her book. He had been watching her since the first day she had came in. He watched her set up her books every day, watched as she waited, started reading a book, and when her friends came to check up on her. He watched her while she continuously checked the clock to see if he'll show, frown, and go back to reading before she packs up and leaves. He watched her silently in the shadows and let her think that he never showed up. He was there, just hidden away. He didn't know how to approach her. He knew doing this would upset her even more, but he didn't know how to face her. What was he suppose to say? He didn't know how to explain his actions.

 _Okay, here goes. Maybe I'll know what to say when she sees me._

He rubs his hands on his robe and clears his throat. He starts to walk out of the shadows to her but when he sees someone walking up to her, he stops. He had been trying the whole week to approach her, but someone was always there. He wanted to talk to her alone. Finally, she was alone. He walks slowly towards her, feeling nervous but was careful to not let it show on his face.

"You finally decide to show up" She says without looking up from her book. How did she do that? He clears his throat at sits down across from her. She slams down her book making him jump, and stares at him coldly.

"I didn't want to do this" He tries to match his tone to her cold stare.

"Neither did I but I was here" Hermione could feel herself growing hot.

"Look I-"

"No you look. Do you have any idea how rude and inconsiderate it is to leave someone hanging for two hours for you? Yeah, I get it, you're Mr. Bigshot but you're the one that's failing, not me. I was here doing you a favor. I get it, you don't need to respect someone like me." Her eyes started to water and he could feel panic creeping up on him. She's not going to run is she? He didn't mean to make her run off again. He reaches out to grab her by the hand but she flings him off.

"Don't touch me!"

"Granger" He hisses. They were starting to cause a scene. A few other students had looked over at them. She folds her arms across her chest and glowers at him. He wanted to smile, but forces a frown on his face.

"Come on" He jerks his head to indicate they talk outside but she resists.

"How do I make it up to you then?" He says sighing and rubbing his temples.

"Apologize" Hermione was shocked by his question. Did he ever offer to make it up to anyone?

"I am offering to make it up to you! That is my apology!" He couldn't believe the nerve of this girl.

"I want to hear it and I want to hear why" She was scaring herself. She knew she was asking for a lot. Does he even know the words "I'm sorry"?

He frowns at her, chews on his bottom lip, then his top lip. Hermione watches as he struggles with himself.

"I'm-I-I'm-I-"Draco stutters and Hermione bites back a giggle.

"Good enough" She waves him off. There's no way a Malfoy could ever say the words "I'm sorry" to anyone, let alone to her. But she knew what he meant.

"Look, about what happened in the hospital wing-"He starts but she knew he couldn't finish. She nods as if she understands his meaning, but was still disappointed.

"Let's just start"

* * *

"Good work today guys" Harry calls out to the group as some were leaving and others were still gathering their stuff. The DA lessons were going well despite struggling to start. Thanks to Dobby, they have been using the Room of Requirements. They had started off slowly with the Disarming Charm, but have been steadily moving along quickly learning the Impediment Jinx and the Reductor Curse.

"Hermione" Harry clears his throat at her as quietly as possible. When she looks up at him, he tilts his head towards Cho Chang and eyes the door. She had been moving slowly to gather her things. She liked this time spent with him, doing something that's not schoolwork, and doing something that he excels in other than Quidditch. She slowly makes her way to the door, not wanting to leave him alone with Cho, but she knew how he felt about her.

She on the other side of the wall, frozen and lost in her own thoughts.

 _What is it like to be on his mind like she is?_

"Hermione?" Ginny calls as her head snaps up at the girl.

"Are you okay?" Hermione nods and plasters a smile on her face.

"Just taking a moment to think of what I have to do" Ginny nods. She knew how busy Hermione was between DA lessons with Harry, studying for her OWLS, making hats and now tutoring Malfoy. She didn't know how the girl does it.

"Well, a few of us wanted to go shopping and I was wondering if you wanted to come along?" Ginny asks as they walk off together.

"What are we shopping for?"

"You're kidding right?" Ginny stares at her in disbelief. Hermione shakes her head and lets Ginny drag her out of school.


	7. Misunderstanding

Hermione leans back in her seat and stretches out her arms. She peeks over at the clock. 7:30. She looks back down at her books and thinks. Should she stay or head back? The library closes at 8:00, might as well leave then.

8:00. Hermione drags her feet as she walks away from the library. Now what?

 _I suppose I can read in the common room._

She rubs her neck. Maybe not. It had been another long week. While heading back to the dorms, Ginny's voice popped into her head. She had told her yesterday about how she has been feeling a little stressed and Ginny suggested that she took a bath in the Prefect's bathroom. Why didn't she think of that? Since school had started, Hermione had yet to take advantage of the bath. Deciding to go with the bath, she throws her books on her bed and grabs her bathrobe.

Stepping inside, Hermione was in awe of the view in front of her. The soft light coming from the chandelier reflects off of the white marble bathroom. The tub looks like it's the size of a swimming pool. She folds her clothes neatly and wraps her bathrobe tightly around her before approaching the tub.

Hermione examines what seems to be about a hundred different gold taps around the tub before choosing to turn one with pink jewels set in the tap. The bath water quickly turns to a lovely soft shade of pink, and the beautiful scent of roses filled her nose. Slipping out of her bathrobe, she slides into her relaxing bath with her back against the wall. Taking in a deep breath, she slides in deeper until the water almost reaches her nose as she recounted her day yesterday. It had been the most successful day out of her entire week. Draco had finally showed up to their tutoring sessions and she finally found out why he didn't show, and he had promised her that he will start showing up starting next week. Smiling to herself, she dips her head back wetting her hair.

* * *

"You know, I'm so glad that we're having the ball this year, despite the fact that it's a Triwizard tradition and it's not going on" Ginny says as the girls walk into Gladrags Wizardwear. Hermione nods absentmindedly while taking a bite of the jelly slug she had bought from Honeydukes earlier. She makes a mental note to get her hair done at the hairdressing salon that she saw across from Honeydukes. Funny how she had never noticed the shop before.

Luna had walked off to look at the funny socks they had in stores while Ginny and Katie raced to the dressing room with gowns in their hands that Hermione didn't even see them pick up.

"Try something on, that's what we're here for" Ginny calls while throwing out a blue dress. Hermione ran her hands across the different fabrics of different dresses in store.

"Well?" Ginny says from behind her. A simple gown catches her eye.

"Yeah" She takes the gown into the dressing room with her.

"Oh Hermione!" Ginny squeals when she sees Hermione come out in the gown. It was a simple white gown that fell to the floor. It had a slit on the side that showed off a little bit of leg, but not too much, stopping mid thigh.

"You look like an angel" Luna had came over when she heard Ginny. Hermione's cheeks turns scarlet red.

"You must buy it" Ginny insists. Just then, a shriek rang out piercing their ears. They turn around to see Pansy fuming.

"Is there a problem?" Hermione asks

"Yes there is! That is MY gown! Get your filthy mudblood body and your filthy paws off of it before it's ruined!" Pansy shrieks again and lunges at Hermione attempting to yank the gown off of her.

"Excuse you" Ginny blocks Pansy

"Is your name on this gown? I don't think so" Ginny pokes Pansy in the chest.

"This is the dress I was coming to get today! Wait til Draco hears of this!" Pansy stomps. Hermione took the chance to duck back into the dressing room and change out of the gown.

"Draco, Draco, she stole my dress!" Pansy whines pulling on his arm.

"Who would dare?" He says nonchalantly, raising an eyebrow at Ginny who just rolls her eyes.

"That filthy mudblood!" Pansy points her finger at Hermione who stepped back out just in time. The two made eye contact for just a split second before Hermione ducks her head to avoid his gaze.

"Just forget about it Pansy" Pansy's eyes widen. How could he say that?

"Draco!" She whines again and pouts.

"Just find something else" He says walking over the check out some dress robes. The girls couldn't believe it. Whether he knew it or not, Draco had just indirectly helped Hermione out. They quickly made their purchases and left for a bite at Three Broomsticks.

* * *

Yule ball. Who had time to even think about that? Certainly not Hermione. And she had to go with a date? Who were her choices? She definitely wanted to go with Harry but he will be asking Cho for sure. Neville? She wrinkles her nose. If she must. Draco's face floats into her head. NO! She shakes her head vigorously as if doing so will make the image his face fall out of her head. There's no way in hell he would go with her. What is she thinking? There's no way in hell she would go with him! Besides, he's going with Pansy for sure. She didn't want to go with him anyway. Then who? Ron?

 _Can't I just go alone?_ Groaning she submerges herself completely under water. It was all just too much for her to think about right now, she didn't want to think about it at all. 

* * *

Meanwhile down in the dungeons, Draco changes into his bathrobe before he heads out the door. He was feeling stressed out himself. He was hoping to not go home for the upcoming break, he didn't want to see his father. His mother, he can manage if it's just her without his father there. They actually got on pretty well.

"Where are you going?" Draco groans inwardly as Pansy blocks him.

"Stressed, going to take a bath" She hooks her arm through his but he shrugs her off.

"I'd like to be alone" Before she can say another word, he walks off.

Draco wonders about how to get out of going home as he reaches the fifth floor. He walks past the statue of Boris the Bewildered and calls out "pine fresh" before stepping into the room. Taking in a deep breath and the sweet scent of roses hits his nose.

 _Someone must have just left_

He ponders for a minute with his arms crossed across his chest which tap he wanted to try. He stares into the massive tub filled with pink bubbles before deciding on lavender. That will soothe him and hopefully make him sleep. Happy with his decision, he nods to himself and walks across the room to find the gold tap set with lavender jewels. Whistling to himself, Draco drops his robe and dips his foot into the water. The temperature was perfect. The smell of lavender was already soothing him. He sits down on the edge and swirls his legs around the bubble bath.

* * *

"Have you seen Hermione?" Ron asks grabbing a first year that was walking by him. He shook his head. Ron releases the student and continues on his way. He had news he wanted to tell her but he couldn't find her. He checked all of the library and the study area, he even asked female students if they saw her in any of the girls' bathrooms. He climbs through to the Gryffindor common room, hoping to find her.

"Gin, have you seen Hermione?" He says in a panic.

"No"

"She's not in the dorms?" He shakes her a bit

"No, but she's probably in the prefects' bathroom" Ginny gives him a funny look and pries his fingers off of her shoulders. Why didn't he think of that?

"Thanks Gin" He calls over his shoulder and runs back out.

He jogs down to the fifth floor and stops abruptly outside of the door. Wait, if she's actually in the bath then that'll be awkward. Maybe he should just wait, it wasn't an emergency or anything. He paces a bit outside the door and decides to wait for her to come out.

 _But wait, wouldn't that make me a creep? She comes out and I'm standing right outside_

Before he gives it another thought, he hears a loud, ear piercing yelp. Did that come from inside the bathroom? Was that Hermione? What happened? Ron bolts into the bathroom and lets out a yelp himself, startled by what he saw in front of him.

Hermione herself was doubly startled. She yelped because when she popped back up to the surface, she saw Draco at the other end of the bathtub, about to strip down and get in the tub. Now Ron came out of nowhere startling her again.

"What the bloody hell?!" Ron shouts as he quickly turns his back to Hermione.

"Ronald, it's not like that!" Hermione feels around for her bathrobe or at least a towel. With her fully naked in the tub and Draco pulling down his boxers, it did look like the two were about to take a bath together. Hermione wraps a towel around herself quickly as she climbs out. Draco turns his head and averts his eyes while she does so.

"I can't believe this, wait til Harry hears, he's going to flip. You, in the bath with Malfoy!" Ron storms out. Oh god, this is not relaxing at all. She throws on her bathrobe and runs out after Ron.

Draco didn't say a word. Everything happened so fast he didn't even know what to say. He quickly sinks in the tub, hoping the hot water will turn his skin as red as his face. Not that anyone was around anymore to see his red face. He had accidentally peeked at Hermione. Not completely, but he thought she had gotten out already fully covered. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of her long, silky legs. He couldn't help his eyes trailed upwards a bit, to the edge of the towel. He gulped and cursed at himself.

* * *

"Ron! I can explain!" Hermione calls out after him. He had disappeared behind the Fat Lady who was quite upset with all the racket she was causing. Hermione mutters a sorry before climbing in.

"Harry, you won't believe what I saw!" Hermione hears Ron say

"What's up?"

"Hermione! I just saw her-"

"No! You've misunderstood!"

"Bloody hell Hermione" Harry and Ron both turn red and both avert their eyes as Harry throws a quilt at her. She had ran out of the bath so quickly, she didn't towel off. With her wet body, and the cold air, her bathrobe was clinging to her wet body and showing off areas that were making the boys blush.

"So what's going on?" Harry asks the drippy wet Hermione who was now wrapped up in the quilt. Hermione sighs.

"I'll explain" She looks at Ron who says nothing.

"I decided to take a bath in the prefects bathroom and was under water when apparently Malfoy came in. He didn't know that I was in the tub and I didn't hear him come in. Just as he was about to get in, I resurfaced and I was startled so I kind of screamed. That's when Ron ran in and thought I was taking a bath with Malfoy." Harry waits until she was finished before fully laughing out loud.

"So why were you under the water?" Ron pipes in

"I was conflicted and annoyed with my thoughts" Hermione says truthfully.

"About what?" Hermione shakes her head

"Nothing, just Yule stuff."

"Dress problems? Girls" Ron snorts. Hermione wishes it was that easy.

"Oh speaking of, I asked Cho and she said yes" Harry announces gleefully. Hermione forces a smile. Of course Cho did.

"Did you find a date yet mate?" Harry slaps Ron on the back. Ron looks at Hermione sheepishly.

"I-um-no-I-not yet" Ron stammers and clears his throat.

"Well, get on it" Ron nods, looking at Hermione who was staring at the fire, no longer listening to their conversation.


	8. Snowball Fight

Since the school was holding the Yule Ball again this year, a lot of the students stayed around for it, though they are welcome to go home afterwards if they wish to do so. Not Hermione. She already wrote home saying that she wouldn't be heading home, that she had to study for her OWLS. Truthfully, she simply just didn't want to go home. Hopefully that and the fact of the ball will be good enough reasons for her friends. Just then, the two boys walk in carrying treats.

"So what are your plans after the ball? Going home to see your parents?" Ron asks while shoving another cupcake into his mouth. Hermione shakes her head.

"No, I wrote home saying I'm staying for the ball and that I wanted to stay and study" She shakes her head again, this time rejecting the cupcake Ron offered.

"But you can do that at home" Harry says

"Yeah, but I have access to the library here" Harry pauses to think for a second, then nods.

"Come on Ron, we have to go help decorate" Hermione pulls on his sleeve.

"Supervise and can't we just give the younger students detention if they don't do a good job?" Ron complains.

"No" Hermione says sternly.

"Way to abuse power. Besides, pretty sure it's the house elves that are doing the job and we have to help them" She says pulling him out the door with him while he grumbles.

When they got down to the Great Hall, a smiling Hagrid dragging in a tree greeted them.

"'Ello Ron, Hermione"

"Hello Hagrid" Hermione greets back smiling. Ron gives Hagrid a wave and runs off to see the fairies fly around the trees.

"That's the last one" Hagrid says when he positions the tree upright. He pauses to look at the 12 trees he brought in and ruffles Hermione's hair before leaving.

Hermione gets to work, helping out by hanging ornaments on the tree Hagrid that just brought in. Behind her, she could hear Draco coming in bossing people around.

"Go get me some treats" He claps ordering the younger students. Hermione shakes her head.

"They're not your lackeys you know" She says turning around to face him. The two turned red for a second, remembering their last encounter.

"They have to, or else they get detention" Draco smirks leaning against the wall.

"You can not do that!"

"Sure I can, who's going to stop me? You Miss goody-two-shoes?" Hermione grabs a handful of tinsel and tosses it at Draco. It rains down on him while his mouth drops open.

 _Uh-oh, don't think that was a good idea._

She hops down the steps of the ladder she was on and decides to make a run for it while Draco stood there. The minute she runs off though, it seems to have snap him out of it, as he starts to chase her. He chases her out the school and bends down to grab a handful of snow before hurling it at her.

"Hey!" a soft thud landed on her back.

"Yes!" Draco pumps his fist in victory. Before he could really celebrate though, something cold and wet hits him in the face. Hermione had threw a handful of snow right back at him. He wipes his face and growls. Hermione makes a run for it while Draco charges after her. She successfully dodges a few snowballs but she couldn't hide from all of them. How was he making them so fast? She quickly ducks behind a tree and struggles to catch her breath between fits of laughter.

"Truce please" She calls out when she sees Draco nearing with a raised arm.

"Please, please" She says holding a hand up to stop him and the other clutching her chest. He lowers his arm and reaches for Hermione's outreached hand. He pulls her in close and shoves the snow down her collar. Covering his ears as she shrieks he quickly turns to run away. The roles have turned, now it's her turn to chase him.

"You are _so_ dead Malfoy!" She yells

"Gotta catch me first" He laughs turning to see how far behind she was from him. As he does so, he trips and falls. Now was her chance. She quickly forms a pile of snowballs with a wave of her wands and starts hurling them at him.

"Ow! OW! Okay, Okay! You win!" He shouts from under his arms that were covering his face. Hermione smiles triumphantly. She walks over to him and holds out a hand to help him up.

Draco eyes her cautiously, not sure if she was genuinely offering help or pulling a trick on him like he did with her.

"I'm not you" She rolls her eyes. He flashes her a grin and reaches up to take a hold of her hand.

Just then, they hear Harry's voice call out her name, and the two of quickly drop their hands and their smiles disappeared.

"What's up?" Harry asks approaching them with Ron trailing not too far behind.

"Nothing, just offering to help Malfoy up" Hermione clears her throat and tucks her hair behind her ear.

"I don't need your help you mudblood" Draco huffs. Hermione chews on the inner corner of her lower lip. Why did he have to be so harsh to her in front of people?

"You-"Ron starts but Hermione places a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Come on, I wanna make snow angels" She says in her happiest tone and drag the two boys with her away from Malfoy while they scowl at him.

Draco stands up and brushes the snow off of him and heads back to the school. On the way back, he spots the three friends not too far from the front of the school. He stops to watch Hermione. She tips herself backwards and falls gracefully into the soft pillowy snow. She lies there on her back for a second with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. She sweeps her arms and legs in the snow to make her snow angel.

"Help me up" He hears her say and she reaches both hands up to the sky. Harry and Ron reaches their hands out to grab hers

"Be careful!" She instructs and they lift her off the ground. She turns around to inspect her snow angel, making sure it was perfect. Happy, she walks over to the snowman that Harry and Ron were working on and start helping.

"Draco!" He quickly snaps out of his trace and shifts his eyes to see who had called him. Pansy, of course.

Draco continues walking towards the school where Pansy was standing by the entrance. When he walks up next to her, she links her arms with his and they walk back in together.

"Hermione" She blinks a few times before she turns around to her friends.

"What's wrong?" She shakes her head. She didn't want them to know she had been watching Draco and Pansy. How would she even explain herself? She couldn't even explain it to herself why she was doing that.


	9. Malfoy Manor

"Ron? Harry?" Hermione calls out. It's the next morning. Hermione thought she would find the boys playing chess in the common room but nobody was there.

 _Maybe they already went down to eat_

She hurries down the to the Great Hall in hopes that she'll find them there, but they weren't.

 _That's odd, even Ginny isn't here_

Hermione frowns and nibbles at a piece of bacon. Should she be worried?

"Miss Granger" Hermione jumps a little in her seat. It was professor McGonagall

"What are you still doing here?" She sounds surprised

"Why wouldn't I be?" Hermione asks hesitantly. Something has happened.

Professor McGonagall realized that in all of the chaos that happened earlier that morning, nobody had woken Hermione and told her the news.

"Professor, do you know where Harry and Ron are?"

"Earlier this morning, before dawn, Harry had a dream that Mr. Weasley was attacked by a snake. He was taken to Professor Dumbledore who talked to the portraits to find out. When they returned, they said that Mr. Weasley had been saved and taken to St. Mungo's" Hermione's eyes widen upon hearing the news.

"Where are they now?" She hurries to her feet.

"Harry, Ron and the rest of the Weasley children are at Grimmauld Place." Hermione nods and rushes back to Gryffindor Tower to gather her things. Back in her room, she threw her trunk onto her bed and haphazardly threw a handful of clothes into it. Slamming her trunk shut, she hurries back downstairs to meet up with Professor McGonagall and the two of them head to Dumbledore's office.

Once in his office, she takes a handful of Floo powder and tosses it into the fireplace. She turns to look at her professors and they nod for her to go on. She takes in a deep breath and

remembers not to panic or fidget once in the fire.

 _Speak clearly, don't be like Harry_

She steps into the emerald green flames, shuts her eyes and tucks in her elbows.

"12 Grimmauld Place" She calls out loud and clear.

 _Did I do it? Was I clear enough?_

"Hermione!" She slowly opens her eyes to see Harry and Ron standing in front of her. She lets out a sigh of relief and steps out of the fireplace.

"So sorry we forgot to wake you" Harry starts. Hermione shakes her head and turns to Ron

"How is he?"

"Alive thanks to Harry" Hermione turns to see Molly Weasley behind her. Hermione reaches out to hug her.

"Hello darling" Molly squeezes her back

"That's great news Mrs. Weasley"

"We're off to see him now" Harry says and Hermione nods.

* * *

"Come along now" Molly Weasley hustles the kids.

Hermione looks up at the red brick building in front of her. Purge and Dowse, Ltd. Molly walks up to a mannequin in the shop window and speaks to it. Soon after, Hermione sees the mannequin nod, and Molly steps through the window with everyone else following behind her.

"Mr. Weasley!" Hermione gasps when they reached his ward.

"Hermione, hello" Arthur Weasley was heavily bandaged but was happy to see everyone

"Did you bring me any candy?" He winks at the twins

"Oh honestly, Arthur." Molly fluffs the pillow he was leaning on and smoothes down his hair.

Their visit was rather short since they had to leave so other visitors could come see him.

"He seems to be in good spirits" Hermione says to Ron who nods.

"Is there anywhere I could get some food?" Hermione asks when her stomach starts to rumble.

"Try the fifth floor" Hermione wasn't sure which twin had spoken to her so she just smiled and headed up.

"Mu-Granger, what are you doing here?" Hermione had been sitting down with her eyes closed when she heard someone call her name. She didn't need to open her eyes to see who it was, she knew. But she did, since she was curious as to why he was here.

"What are you doing here?" She parrots back

"I asked first" He plops down next to her.

"I'm here to see Mr. Weasley" Draco nods. He already knew about what happened.

"You?" Hermione questions again but he avoids answering her.

"So you going back to Hogwarts after?"

"No, I'll be staying with the Weasleys" She carefully left out where. He didn't need to know.

"You don't seem thrilled" Hermione shrugs

"Can't say this is a happy occasion that's gathered us together" Draco remains quiet. Hermione stares hard at the floor. Does she tell him?

"Tell me" Hermione's head snap up. She looks at him but he wasn't looking back at her. His eyes were closed. Did he just read her mind? She bites her lip contemplating then decides it's none of his business.

"No, I'm fine" Hermione stands up to leave but her knees feels weak.

 _I probably just got up too fast._

Everything that was happening was just too much for her. Worrying and studying for long hours, tutoring Draco, being a prefect, everything that's going on at home and now Mr. Weasley. Suddenly, she felt dizzy and nauseous. Within a few seconds, her vision blurred and she hit the ground.

* * *

 _Where am I?_ Hermione opens her eyes for a brief second before the comfort of the plush bed she's sleeping in lures her back to sleep again. When she wakes up again, she sits up with a jolt. Why was she in a bed? Wasn't she in the hospital? Was she in a hospital bed? She looks down to find herself sitting on a massive bed.

"You sure can sleep" Hermione lets out a yelp

"What are you doing in here?" She panics hugging the covers to her body.

"You're in my home" Hermione frantically looks around the room. She couldn't be, could she? She looks down at the covers. Lush, black velvet. The room was poorly lit even with a fireplace across the room. That's how big the place was. How did she get here?

"Floo powder" As if he was reading her mind again.

"How long have I been asleep?" Hermione swings her legs over to the side of the bed and climbs down. She makes her way to the black curtains.

"All day" Pulling back the curtain, she peers outside. It was already night time. She could see the garden in front of her.

"But why-?"

"You fainted so I brought you here" Hermione feels herself growing angry.

"You shouldn't have done that!" He had kidnapped her!

"So then you want to go back? Suit yourself" He tilts his head towards the fireplace. Hermione hesitates before speaking again.

"Harry and the Weasleys must be so worried with me disappearing like that" She says softly while he just shrugs.

"Can I have a piece of parchment paper?" He jerks his head towards a lonely desk in the corner.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to write to them" She sits down at the table and smoothes out the paper.

"And say what?" He walks over and leans against the wall next to the desk.

"That something happened at home that I couldn't notify them right away. Lumos" Hermione points her lit wand at the paper.

She hated lying to them but what could she do? She definitely didn't want to go home, she couldn't hide out at Hogwarts as she's suppose to be at 12 Grimmauld Place with Harry and the Weasleys and she hadn't really wanted to stay there. After writing her quick note, she hands the paper to him.

"Please see that this gets to Harry tonight" He nods and walks out the door. There's no way she can tell them where she really was, Malfoy Manor.

"You can have this room" Draco says once he returns

"Isn't this your room?" Hermione asks furrowing her brows

"Yeah, right" He snorts

"I'll see you at breakfast" He turns to leave

"Wait!" He cocks an eyebrow

"What about your parents?" Hermione's lip quiver. She was suddenly extremely aware of her blood status.

"Mother and Father had to tend to some business and won't be back for a while. Probably not until after we go back to school" She nods and he walks out the room again.

Hermione looks around and climbs back into bed. As grand as the room was, it was still cold and empty. She was beginning to see why Draco was the way he was. Closing her eyes, she drifts back to sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Hermione tiptoes out of her room. Though Draco had already told her nobody was home, she still felt the need to sneak around. It seems as though she had been wandering around forever when she finally made her way downstairs the the dining room. All of the doors and halls looked the same, it was too confusing for her. When she sat down, there was a letter from Harry at breakfast in front of her.

 _Glad you're okay. We were worried._

Hermione felt sick again. She felt so guilty for lying but she didn't know what else to do. She folds up her letter and quietly eats her food without picking her head up to look at Draco who was seated a few feet away. She wanted to take a shower, but she didn't have any of her clothes and had no idea where the bathroom was anyway.

"Malfoy?" She says softly but he was too far to hear her. She clears her throat and tries again, but he didn't hear, again. She then decides to get up and walk over to where he was seated.

"Um" She tucks her hair behind her ears.

"What"

"Which way to the bathroom? I'd like to take a shower" She informs him.

"Left out the door, up the stairs, down the hall from the stairs, second to last door." He responds without looking up.

 _Left, down, no. Left, up, straight, second to last door._

When she reached the bathroom, Hermione noticed that it was right next to the room that she had slept in. Closing the door behind her, she turns on the water and steps in. Standing under the water, she hopes everything gets washed away. She reaches for a towel before stepping back out.

 _Great, I have no clothes_

She looks at the pile of clothes she peeled off earlier and sighs. Well, she couldn't wear those for days. She pops the door open and steps into something. Folded at the door were pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt. Smiling, she picks up a piece of paper that was laying on top of the clothes.

 _Hope this is suffice_

She gathers the clothes into her arms and closes the bathroom door. She pulls on the clothes and smiles. He's a pretty good host. Walking back out, she heads into her room. He had been sitting on the bed.

"Thanks" He nods.

"Sorry about the uh, under things" He mutters turning red.

"Shall I take you shopping?" He clears his throat looking away.

"For my under things?" Draco blushes.

"I can manage alone" Draco nods and tosses her a little drawstring bag. She dumps the contents out onto the bed.

"Hope that's enough?" Hermione counts 16 galleons, 32 sickle, and 50 knuts. She nods and quickly shoves everything back into the little bag. She only needed a few items anyway.

"A house elf will accompany you" He leans back into the bed with his arms behind his head. Hermione nods and stares at him

"What" he snaps

"It's snowing outside" He snaps his fingers and a house elf appears holding a heavy black winter cloak. She throws it on and pulls on her shoes.

"Thanks" She says to the elf who snarls at her.

"Nasty mudblood" Draco sniggers. Hermione was surprised at the house elf but then remembers where she was.

"Take her to get some clothes. Do not breathe a word of this or of her staying here to anyone. Not my father, not my mother, Bellatrix, nobody in the family, nobody outside of this household. Do not even talk about this amongst the other house elves" He hisses

"Yes master" the little house elf bows deeply before leading Hermione out of the manor.

* * *

" _Mommy mommy!" Hermione cried. She had been playing in her room when she heard yelling going on downstairs. She ran down to find her mother shoved onto the floor. She ran towards her mother to try to help her up but she felt herself being jerked back by her hair._

" _Let go!" She struggles and he threw her onto the couch. Her mother scrambles to her feet to check on Hermione._

" _Hermione, baby, listen to mommy okay? Go upstairs and grab yourself a book okay? Cover your ears baby and read out loud. Read loudly okay honey so I can hear you from downstairs." Her mother smiles at her and gives her a kiss on top of her bed before being pulled up by her arm._

" _Please, she's just a child" Her mother begged and motioned for her young daughter to go upstairs._

Hermione tossed in her sleep and her fists clenched the covers.

 _Hermione had fallen asleep on the couch. She felt something hovering over her and her eyes flew open to find him standing over her. He was so close that she could smell the alcohol on his breath. As hard as she could, she shoved him and he stumbled backwards. Her mother had appeared and she grabbed onto his arm to prevent him from grabbing her._

" _Run" Was all her mother could say as she tried her hardest to block him while Hermione scrambled to the stairs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to see her mother lying on the floor and him advancing towards her. He was hot on her heels, chasing her up the stairs. His fingertips grazed her ankle as he was being yanked on by her mother. Hermione's fingers fumbled to lock her door and she ran to sit on her bed. She covered her ears and started reading loudly like her mother had told her when she was little._

" _Keep reading, never stop reading" Her mother had once told her. She cried as she heard crashes going on rocked herself as a way to self-soothe. At least she'll be back at Hogwarts soon._

Hermione was crying in her sleep. Where was her wand? Why couldn't she do anything? Draco had been making his way down the stairs to head to the garden. He could never sleep well at home, even when his parents weren't there.

 _Is she crying?_ He had stopped when he reached the bottom of the stairs and heard what sounded like crying. Curious, Draco slowly makes his way to her door. He gently opens the door, pops his head in to look around. There she was, tossing and turning in her bed.

 _Must be having a bad dream_

Not wanting to wake her, he pulls his head back out but her screams stop him.

"Stop! Stop!" She was screaming and sobbing.

 _Her mother had been backed into a corner. Hermione had her arms spread out, blocking him from hitting her mother even more._

" _Hermione, you need to leave" Her mother tugged on the back of her shirt but she ignored her._

" _Hermione, please" Her mother gently shook her by the shoulder, begging her. She knew the more she was around, the worse her mother got it. He chuckled at her attempt to save her mother. He stroke her cheek with a single finger, before grabbing her face by her cheeks._

Draco walks over to her bed and gently shakes her by her shoulder.

 _He suddenly had her by the shoulders and was shaking her like she was a rag doll. Hermione whimpered and flinched at his tight grip. At least he didn't hit her._

"Hey wake up" She pushes his hand away and he tries again, shaking her harder. Hermione starts flailing her arms and kicking her legs.

"It's me, open your eyes Granger! Look at me" Hermione opens her eyes to see blond hair and grey eyes in front of her. He was gone. It wasn't him that was shaking her, it was really Draco. Man, was she happy to see him. She lunges forward to throw her arounds around him and starts crying.

"It's okay" He shushes her and rocks her gently in his arms.

* * *

Since her nightmare, Draco has been checking on Hermione periodically throughout the night. Tonight's no different. He swiftly and quietly makes his way down the spiral staircase but when he gets to the first floor, his knees gives out slightly. Regaining himself, he adjusts his posture and clears his throat.

"What are you doing here?" he asks curtly.

"Draco" she says softly with sad eyes. He ignores her.

 _How long has she been here?_ Draco starts to take a step towards the room but changes his mind, hoping that Narcissa didn't notice, but she did.

"Hiding something?" She walks towards the end of the hall, and raises her wand to start blasting the bedroom doors with expluso. When she gets to Hermione's door, Draco rushes over to stop her but he was a step too slow. The loud blast scares Hermione awake.

"Let's have a look" Narcissa storms into the room with Draco closely at her heel.

Narcissa gasps when she sees Hermione who fumbles around for her wand. How could her son bring such..filth into her home? How dare he! Did he forget everything she and Lucius has been teaching him and saying about blood statues?

Her eyes widen with anger as she aims her wand at her.  
"Flip-" Draco hurries to block Hermione.

"Don't. I'll do what you want. I'll do what father wants, just don't." Draco says as Hermione look at him and Narcissa with confusion. What is Draco talking about and why is Narcissa home?

"Draco I-" Narcissa's expression softens and she drops her hand.

"I want her out of here" Narcissa says coldly turning up her nose at Hermione.

"Just until school starts" he says in equal coldness. Not wanting to fight with her son, Narcissa decides to let it go.

"Don't tell father" Narcissa nods and with a soft 'pop', apparates out of the room.

"Draco, what did you agree to do?" Hermione shakes his arm with worry.

"Nothing" Hermione knows it couldn't just be 'nothing', especially if it's something Lucius Malfoy wants from Draco, but she decides to let it go.

"I thought she wasn't going to be coming home?" Hermione changes the subject and Draco shrugs.

"Guess she wanted to wish me a happy birthday in person" Draco mutters and walks out of the room.

* * *

 **Hope you are enjoying the story! I know his birthday is really in June, but I had to change it.**

 **Let me know what you guys think so far. Thanks!**


	10. Valentine's Day

"Hey, where's Harry?" Hermione asks Ron as she pulls her bag off her shoulder and sets it on the floor.

"He has some type of lessons with Snape" Ron responds tossing a Bertie Bott's bean in the air.

"What for?" Hermione scrunches her nose.

"Occlumency" Harry groans plopping down next to Ron on the couch.

"Occlumency?"

"Yeah, it's some mind reading thing" Ron pipes up.

"Ronald, that's Legilimency. Occlumency is closing one's mind." Hermione rolls her eyes. Ron shrugs and tosses another jelly bean in the air and catches it in his mouth.

" Yeah. Snape came before school started saying how Dumbledore wanted me to learn and I thought it would be lessons with him, but instead I have to take these lessons with Snape" Harry grumbles and takes a few jelly beans for himself.

"Sorry mate, at least you got a date now with Cho" This puts a smile on Harry's face.

"Oh?" Hermione cocks her head in Harry's direction.

"Yeah, I finally got up the nerve to ask her out for Valentine's Day" Harry grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck.

"Oh that's great Harry. Where are you two meeting?" Hermione feigns interest.

"Madam Puddifoot's" Hermione nods and picks off the invisible lint from her skirt.

"I'm going to head up" Harry announces and leaves.

"So um, Hermione" Ron clears his throat.

"Well goodnight" Hermione walks away before Ron says another word.

"Would you like to go somewhere for Valentine's Day?" Ron mumbles softly as he watches her walk away.

* * *

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione shouts frantically as they approach her in the Great Hall.

"What's going on?" Harry furrows his brows as he takes a seat across from her.

"Look!" Hermione snaps open her folded _Daily Prophet_ and shoves it under Harry's nose.

"That must be why Voldemort was so happy"

"What do you mean?" Ron asks as Hermione withdraws the paper.

"Well, I felt my scar burning and I saw his thoughts again and he was ecstatic about something, I guess this is it" Harry points at the newspaper.

Hermione mumbles something under her breath and leaves the table. She is in such a rush that she isn't watching where she's going and she crashes right into Draco.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaims and loses her balance. Draco's arm flinch to steady her so she doesn't fall, but stops himself, remembering where he is. They're no longer in the privacy of his home.

"Watch it Mudblood" Vincent Goyle sneers at her.

Vincent and Gregory walk off, stepping on her paper. Draco lags behind, wanting to help her up behind his friends backs, but decides against it.

 _Did I really expect him to act differently just because of what happened?  
_ Hermione picks herself up and her paper and continues back to her dorm.

Since Narcissa Malfoy came back unexpectedly, Draco was even more careful with Hermione. He hardly left her side. They had spent most of their time in her room, and he even had the house-elves set up a bed for him to sleep in her room, in case someone came and sneak attacked her while he was upstairs in his room.

"Why do you care so much?" Hermione asked one day while they were sitting in her room. Draco had been reading and froze when she asked that.

"Malfoy?"

"I don't" Draco said icily.

"Then why are you sleeping in here?" Hermione asked smartly, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"This is my home, I am welcome to sleep wherever. I am leaving" Draco stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Hermione couldn't help but crack a smile. Later that night, Hermione heard him creep back into the room and plopped himself down in a chair.

"Why don't you sleep?" She called out but was responded with silence.

Hermione didn't want to admit it, but it was kind of nice. She didn't know what she would even do if Narcissa came back again. Or worse, Lucius. But Narcissa obviously had respected Draco's wishes and didn't tell his father about Hermione, since neither one of them ever came back before they went back to school.

* * *

Draco leans back in his seat and props his feet up on the desk. For once, he's happy about his tutoring lessons with Hermione. He got away from Pansy just in time. Valentine's Day is in a few days and she was bothering in about it.

"Ahem" Hermione comes in and knocks his feet off the table.

"Rare that you're here before me" Hermione checks the wall clock to see if she's late. She's not.

"Been hiding out"

"Why?" Hermione pulls out her homework planner.

"Pans-" Draco stops himself. He knows everyone thinks they're together and he's not sure if he wanted Hermione to think he isn't.

"Why are you hiding from her? Isn't she your girlfriend?"

"Something about Valentine's Day" Draco groans.

"So, what are your plans?" Draco asks clearing his throat.

"Oh, I'm meeting Harry at Three Broomsticks-" Hermione catches herself before saying another word.

"Oh" Draco bites the inside of his cheek. Something about that rubs him the wrong way.

"Um, yeah. So let's start." Hermione flips open a book but Draco's too upset to work and shoves the book off the table.

"Uh, okay, what's your issue?" Hermione bends to pick up the book and Draco puts his feet back up on the table.

"I am not in the mood for your bratty behavior, Malfoy." She snaps.

Draco sighs inwardly and reluctantly removes his feet. As upset as he is about her meeting up with Potter, he didn't want her to leave. Especially since he's trying to avoid Pansy. Plus, ever since her stay at his manor, he wants to be with her even more so, to sort of watch over her.

* * *

"So how was your date?" Hermione asks as the two gets up to leave. Hermione had gotten Harry an interview with Rita Skeeter and it just ended. Harry shakes his head at her question and groans.

"What happened?" The two of them snake their way to the door.

"Well, she got all upset because I said I was meeting you." Harry frowns.

"Harry! She probably thinks you like me! Why did you say it like that?"

"Well then, how was I suppose to say it?" As they walk together, Hermione spots a blond head out the corner of her eye.

"I don't know, but you should've said it in a way that you didn't want to, how it's such a hassle to have to meet up with me. You should've reassured her there's no attraction between us, that you think I'm ugly or something. She's insecure" Hermione says quickly.

"You're not ugly" Harry interrupts causing Hermione to blush.

Seeing her smiling and blushing at something Harry said, Draco drapes his around Pansy's shoulder, bringing her in closer to him. Hermione catches this and steps in closer to Harry and the two walk out the door.

"Draco" Pansy coos and nuzzles his neck.

Draco takes a swig of his drink and walks out after them.

"Where's Potter?" His voice startles her. She turns to see him looking around for Harry.

"Why?" Draco shrugs.

"Didn't think he would just abandon his date, so ill mannered"

"He's not my date and where's Pansy?" Hermione smirks.

"Then why were you two together?" Hermione didn't know why, but it sounds like he's upset. Maybe she's overthinking it.

"Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't" An awkward silence falls upon them. The two stand there, unsure if they should walk back into school or not.

"Um, so did you hear about the news?" Hermione tries to break the uncomfortable silence.

"What?"

"The Death Eaters breaking out of Azkaban."

"Isn't that old news?" Draco raises a brow at Hermione who shrugs. She's just trying to make conversation.

"So, do you think there will be Dementors?"

"What?"

"Well, the last time there was a Azkaban outbreak, there were Dementors at the school" Hermione says carefully.

"Do you think they'll be here again this time?" Draco shakes his head in disagreement but Hermione thinks otherwise. She can't help but remember how Dementors were here when Sirius had escaped, and how they were after Harry just this past summer. She couldn't help shake the feeling that they will be back.

Just then, she starts to feel an unnatural cold surrounding her.

"Oh bloody hell" Draco mutters. Hermione spins around to see a dark floating object in the sky.

"Run!" Draco grabs Hermione's hand as he runs towards the school but the figure quickly swoops down closer to them. Draco fumbles with his wand and drops it on the floor. Hermione draws her wand and points it at the figure.

"Ex-expecto P-patronum" She calls. Nothing. She can hear the figure drawing in air in a sucking sound as screams fill her ears.

 _They feed off of fear._ She shakes her head and tries to concentrate.

"Happiest memory, happiest memory" She points her wand again.

"Expecto Patronum!" A burst of smoke shoots out from the tip of her wand causing the Dementor to stop.

"How do you know how to do that?" Draco asks standing behind Hermione.

"No time to explain, it won't hold the Dementor off." Just as she says it, the smoke is gone and the Dementor is coming back towards them even faster.

"Oh bollocks." Draco mutters. Hermione takes aim Smiling, she turns her attention back to the Dementor.

"Expecto Patronum!" An otter springs out from the tip of her wand.

"Woah" Draco stares as the Dementor swoops down at the otter.

"Come on!" Hermione tugs on his sleeve and the two hurry back to the school.

"So, I just saved your life" Hermione pants and Draco gives her a slight shove.

"Oh I have to tell Harry and Dumbledore!" Hermione runs off leaving Draco behind.


	11. Common Room Secret

**A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a while! Sorry about that but I'm back! I hope this chapter doesn't read too awkwardly as I'm trying to get back into the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

Where could it be? Draco rummages through the cupboard. He already searched all over the floors, tables, but still had no luck.

"What are you doing?" Snape's voice comes booming. Draco spins around and gulps. Snape stands in the doorway with cross arms and cocks an eyebrow waiting for him to answer.

Draco tries to think of what he can say, before giving up trying to lie to him.

"I lost something that I thought would be here." Draco sighs. Snape can easily use Legilimency on him. Draco reluctantly walks his way towards the classroom door. Just as he passes Snape, he stops him and presses something into his hand. Draco turns his head to read his professor's face, to see if it gives any hint of what's on the paper. But all Draco sees is the back of his head as he's walking away. Draco looks down into his hands at a piece of crumpled paper. Something about it feels familiar. He takes in a deep breath while he gingerly opens the note.  
 _Thanks_

There it is, in the palm of his hands. He tucks it back into his pocket, straightens himself up, clears his throat and walks out the room as if nothing happened. 

* * *

Feeling the snow crunch beneath his shoes, Draco makes his way across the wooden bridge. The cold air hits his lungs as he takes in a long deep breath and exhales a big puff of cloud.

 _How come I didn't see her in Hogsmeade?_

Draco replays his day in his head. He spent the whole day in Hogsmeade wondering around, and every single time he spotted Potter and Weasley, not once did he see her with them. She usually is, unless she spent the day in the library? Maybe she spent the day in her dorm?

Draco tries to rid all his questions and thoughts about her by shaking his head vigorously. When he stops and his eyes focus, he sees her before him. There she is, sitting a few feet away from the end of the bridge, on one of the benches in a small stone gazebo.

 _Do I walk over?_ Draco battles within himself whether to leave her alone in her peace, or to walk over to her.

While he silently stands there at the end of the bridge, Hermione looks up at him, leaving him feeling like a deer caught in the headlights. He opens his mouth to say something, but then snaps it shut. She turns away from him and continues to stare ahead. Something about the state she's in makes him walk over to her. He gingerly sits down on the bench, far enough to give her her space.

He's not sure how long he's been sitting next to her, but darkness soon falls upon them. He opens his mouth once again to say something when he feels something against his shoulders, but decides against it, once again.

If they don't start heading back soon, they'll be breaking curfew. But she had fallen asleep on his shoulders and he didn't want to wake her. He throws his winter coat over her and casts the disillusionment charm. He didn't want anyone to see him carry her back to the castle. She snuggles her head so close to his neck that can feel her breath on his neck. Swallowing hard, he has to decide what to do about her. He couldn't bring her back to her common room, no way was he going to be caught dead hanging around near the Gryffindor Tower. But he couldn't just dump her somewhere and hope someone will find her and bring her back. He really didn't want to wake her whatsoever.

He decides to head straight down to the dungeons. He knows that if someone catches him, they would both be in a whole lot of trouble. Students were only suppose to be in the common rooms of their own houses.

He stands before a stone wall, shifts her in his arms and calls out the password to the Slytherin Dungeons and peers behind him while he waits for the passageway to appear before him. He hurries to place her down gently on the couch in the common room.

 _Should I bring her to my room? No I can't, then everyone will think something happened between us and I'll be in trouble for sure! Not to mention I would get her in trouble and she'd hate me. So then do I leave her out here? But then everyone will see in the morning. Why did I even bring her here?_

He ponders about what he should do while he pulls a blanket over her and watches her sleep.

"What is she doing here?" Hisses a voice that stirs him. He looks up to see Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle hovering over the couch. The blanket covers most of her face, but you can still see it.

"Shh!" He whispers loudly. He didn't want them to wake her. He starts to think of an excuse but couldn't come up with one.

"Getting back at that Potter by kidnapping his friend?" He nods quickly. Goyle may be dumb but sometimes helpful.

"Go on now" He waves them off. Pansy scoffs and leaves with Goyle and Crabbe behind her. He casts the disillusionment charm once again, in hopes that no one else will walk in and see her.

 _Where am I?_ Hermione wakes up looking at her surroundings. This doesn't look like the Gryffindor common room. She looks down at the blanket that was covering her. Green and silver. Definitely not Gryffindor Tower.

 _How did I end up here?_ She starts to panic when she notices a heavy feeling against her leg. She looks down to see a silvery blond head up against her. He had fallen asleep on the floor next to her. She shifts carefully, trying not to wake her but he wakes up with a jump immediately.

"Why are you sleeping on the floor?" She watches him bring a hand to rub his eye.

"I fell asleep wa- I fell asleep" he clears his throat. He's not about to let her know that he fell asleep watching her sleep. She nods, stretches and throws the blanket off of her.

"Wait, how did I get here?" She asks in a whisper.

"I casted a disillusionment charm to carry you in here" He says smirking at her reaction.

"Not as dumb as you think" Before she says anything, they hear feet behind them. Hermione quickly casts the disillusionment charm and follows Draco out of the Dungeon.

Once outside, they walk towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Hermione doesn't ask what happen and Draco doesn't bring it up.

"Hermione!" She looks up to see Ron and Harry walking together frowning. She hurries towards them, leaving Draco behind.

"Where were you last night? We couldn't find you" Ron asks her while Harry glares at Draco. Why were the two of them walking together?

"I had to patrol last night with Draco" Hermione answers.

"Oh." Ron nods.

"But wait-" Harry wants to say that it doesn't explain why they were together in the morning, but Hermione's already pulling on his arm towards the Great Hall.

"Come on, breakfast awaits" She knows it won't change Harry's questioning, but it'll be a quick distraction while trying to think of what to say when Harry asks again.

"So why were you with Malfoy?" Harry asks while they settle into their seats.  
"I wasn't, not really. We just ran into each other"

"How?" Harry raises an eyebrow.

"He came up the spiral staircase and we ran into each other in the Viaduct Entrance" She says lying. Hopefully he doesn't see through it. Harry furrows his eyebrows at her story. Just then, a flock of owls fly in surprising Harry with a large amount of letters from people who thinks he's insane and those who believe him. 

* * *

While walking through the hall, the trio sees that Professor Umbridge issue a new Educational Decree banning anyone from possessing the _Quibbler_. Over the weekend, Harry's interview was published in the _Quibbler_ , causing Professor Umbridge to strip Harry of his Hogsmeade visitation rights.

"I can't believe she did that!" Harry grumbles.

"What are you smiling about?" Ron asks a smiling Hermione.

"Her decree will only make the whole school to read Harry's interview." Just then, Cho Chang walks up to the three of them.

"Hello Harry." Cho says biting her bottom lip.  
"Hey Cho."

"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior, and to tell you that I think you were really brave for doing that interview."

"Oh. Uh, thanks" Harry replies turning slightly pink. Cho leans in to give him a kiss and they both turn pink. Hermione shifts uncomfortably before walking away from them.

"Hermione, wait up!" Ron and Harry hurries after her.

"Why'd you walk off like that?" Ron asks.

"We're going to be late for class!" Hermione half-cries as she rushes ahead of them. The two boys exchange looks and shake their heads. Typical Hermione.


End file.
